1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a touch screen for a mobile terminal and a power saving method thereof, and in particular, to a touch screen for a mobile terminal and a power saving method thereof that can reduce electric current consumed upon scanning.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, due to the rapid development of communications technology, voice communication can be performed using a mobile terminal at most times and places. As various functions are added to the mobile terminal, a user can utilize character information, image information, MP3, or games through a screen of a display unit in the mobile terminal. The display unit of the mobile terminal is typically a touch screen enabling input through repeated touching.
Moreover, the touch screen is a display device for executing an instruction by identifying a contact position of a person's finger or material on a visible character on or a specific position on a touch panel without using a key input unit, and process using stored software.
Particularly, the touch screen periodically executes a scan in order to detect whether a material is in contact. For example, a touch screen having 17 light emitting elements and 17 light receiving elements within a touch panel performs a scan that emits and receives light at a frequency of 100 times/second. In the following description, the number of executions of emitting and receiving light per second is referred to as a scan speed.
However, in a conventional touch screen, because a scan is continuously executed with a predetermined scan speed even if no material is in contact, there is a problem that electric current is wasted.